In sports, there are moments that transcend a single game. But what if we told you how that on-field moment was created? If you knew the myriad of people who make sacrifices, choices – if you knew the full messy, complicated, gut-wrenching truth- it might change your opinion of those legendary plays.
In Making of a Moment Season 1 - The RSL Story - host Amy Donaldson looks at the unlikely 2021 playoff run of Real Salt Lake. That post-season performance from a team expected to finish last is much more than the Cinderella story witnessed by RSL faithful. It’s the story of an underdog club engaged in a fight for survival off the field, while trying to prove they deserved to compete for a championship.
Dell Loy Hansen's complex legacy is explored by journalist Amy Donaldson, revealing a multifaceted impact on professional soccer that extends far beyond Utah and the US.
6 Dec 2024
Bonus Episode 6: The Return of the Royals
Dell Loy Hansen and Real Salt Lake staff and players share their gut-wrenching experience of losing and then regaining the Royals franchise in a story of hope and identity retention.
22 Nov 2024
Bonus Episode 5 | The World According to Pablo Mastroeni
Real Salt Lake coach Pablo Mastroeni shares his journey and philosophies on coaching, playing, and life, offering actionable advice for anyone seeking personal growth and success.
20 Nov 2024
Ep 6 | The Stroke of Midnight
Real Salt Lake's magical run comes to an end, but the team's massive changes after the 2021 season reveal the value of winning is just one measurement in professional sports.
15 Nov 2024
Bonus Episode 4 | Jason Kreis
When Jason Kreis became the first player signed by Real Salt Lake founder Dave Checketts in November of 2004, he’d never even been to Utah. But 20 years later, it’s difficult to say if Kreis had more of an impact on the club - or if the club - and the community - have had more of an impact on Jason Kreis.
In this bonus episode, Kreis talks about his departure, why he wanted to return to the club, why the culture at RSL is unique, and what he hopes the club means to Utah.
13 Nov 2024
Episode 5 | Cinderella Crashes the Ball
Real Salt Lake's 2021 Decision Day victory gave them the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. But they barely had time to celebrate when they were hit with another blow. Their reward for making the playoffs? A chance to play the Sounders - in Seattle. The team that had stolen their coach in August, a team that boasted one of the most potent offenses was standing between them and a fairy tale ending.
8 Nov 2024
Bonus 3 | The Kyle Beckerman interview
There is no player who embodies the culture of Real Salt Lake than Kyle Beckerman. When he was traded from Colorado to Utah in 2007, he instantly changed the culture of RSL’s locker room. He captained the team from 2008 until he retired in 2020. Beckerman has seen the club through its rise to glory - and through its bleakest times. This episode gives you more of his background, his time in Colorado where RSL head coach Pablo Mastroeni became his friend and mentor and what it was like to try and win soccer games when the front office was in chaos.
6 Nov 2024
Ep4 | That Colorado Guy
When Real Salt Lake’s head coach stuns everyone by quitting with 10 weeks left in the season, he leaves the team in the hands of a man RSL fans once loved to hate. And despite his unsavory history with the club, he seems uniquely suited to lead a team without an owner, picked to finish last, and abandoned by their head coach in August of 2021 to an unlikely playoff berth. All he has to do is lead Real Salt Lake to a win on the road on the last day of the regular season.
1 Nov 2024
Bonus 2 | The visionary
Dave Checketts was working for the NBA when he fell in love with soccer while traveling in Europe. He decided he wanted to build a club in his home state of Utah, but he had no idea the obstacles and heartache he’d face. This is more of the conversation we had with Checketts on the hurdles he faced building the team and why he had to sell his dream.
30 Oct 2024
Ep3 | The Midas Touch
Real Salt Lake’s new owner - Dell Loy Hansen - called the club “a state trust” and hoped his contribution to soccer in Utah would become his legacy. He invested millions in a development academy, training facilities, a minor league team and eventually a National Women’s Soccer League club. But players and staff said RSL shifted from a familial ideal to a more transactional organization, and a toxic culture took hold and infected every aspect of the club. Even those who saw it, who hated it, who tried to do something about it, were powerless to create meaningful change. Things shifted when Hansen spoke out in a radio interview where he not only revealed that rot, he also lit a match that threatened to consume everything he’d built.
25 Oct 2024
Bonus 1 | Life after pro sports
Brian Dunseth played for six different MLS clubs over the course of his career including a season with the Real Salt Lake. “Dunny" is one of the most recognizable people in soccer in America. He was the captain of the 2000 U.S. Olympic soccer team and is an MLS analyst for TNT, Apple TV, host on Sirius XM and co-host of the Week in Tackle podcast. In this conversation with Amy Donaldson, Dunny talks about what it was like adjusting to life after professional sports and he reflects on the aftermath when RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen sold the team.
23 Oct 2024
Ep2 | Utah IS the place for soccer
Professional soccer got its start in Utah thanks to the visionary leadership and relentless will of an NBA executive. It was Utah native Dave Checketts who bought an MLS franchise and decided to put it in his home state. He fought political and financial battles to establish a club that would do what no other professional sports franchise in Utah has ever managed to do - win a championship. But while sports aficionados are fond of saying “there is no problem winning can’t solve”, that turned out not to be true for RSL and Dave Checketts.
21 Oct 2024
Ep1 | The Unraveling
August 27, 2020 is a day Real Salt Lake faithful and staff remember well - but not for what happened on the pitch. That’s the day the smallest Major League Soccer team was thrown into chaos by the man who once saved the club from financial ruin - their billionaire owner.
But what most fans didn’t realize is that when Real Salt Lake made an unlikely playoff run in 2021, the seeds for that moment were planted during that 2020 crisis. A crisis that led to the owner’s downfall.
10 Oct 2024
Introducing Making Of A Moment | The RSL Story
In sports there are moments that transcend a single game. What if you knew all that went into how that on-field moment was created? The Real Salt Lake is an iconic soccer team. It wasn't always that way. This season, host Amy Donaldson looks at the RSL's unlikely 2021 playoff run. That post-season performance from a team expected to finish last is much more than the Cinderella story witnessed by RSL faithful. It’s the story of an underdog club engaged in a fight for survival off the field, while trying to prove they deserved to compete for a championship. Coming October 21st, 2024.
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